Austin ISD will be seeking proposals from individuals interested in repurposing, buying, leasing or exchanging 10 district-owned properties. On March 28, the AISD board of trustees unanimously approved a resolution that declares the intent to request proposals. In the resolution, it states there are four principles that guide the request for proposals, or RFP: expanding academic offerings to students, supporting affordable housing, considering administration space and design needs and providing revenue for the district. The RFP is going to be developed by late April. The board will review the RFP; then there will be a three- to four-month period in which proposers can respond, Chief Financial Officer Nicole Conley said. Cruz said the RFP is not just about selling the properties. “It is truly about exploring other options and other opportunities,” he said. The approval of the resolution does not require the board or district to move forward with a proposal it may receive, Cruz said. One of the more notable properties is the Carruth Administration Center in Downtown Austin at 1111 W. Sixth St., where AISD administration works and the board meets. One property, the former Allan Elementary School at 4900 Gonzales St. in East Austin, became a point of contention for several speakers during public comment March 28, who urged the board to take the property off the list. Trustee Jayme Mathias said there are nine nonprofit organizations currently at the facility that provide services such as preparing adults for work and assisting early childhood learners, and neighborhood residents do not want to lose the service providers. “Hearing from [the nonprofits], the desire is not so much [for] holding on to this aging, increasingly inefficient facility,” Mathias said. “The focus is more 'How do we dream about this property, and what could be there?' There are currently nine undeveloped acres on that property.” The board approved by a 6-3 vote an amendment proposed by Mathias that protects the service providers at Allan Facility and honors the history of Allan Junior High School, Allan Elementary and Allan Facility. Trustee Yasmin Wagner, who voted against the amendment, said adding more language to the resolution could inadvertently make AISD hamstrung by it. Instead, the language should be “stripped to its purest form” so that a full range of options can be revealed. “I don’t think that means we are kicking any of our valued partners to the curb,” Wagner said.